The annual Latino Summit, which occurred last Saturday, March 4, presented a synthesis of information about college and social services available around Los Altos. The event opened for all community members and aimed to provide resources and a platform for Latino families to ask questions and be informed on relevant topics.

“The idea is just to bring parents and students on our campus to feel more comfortable knowing that they can ask questions and that there is a lot of good information out there for community members,” Larin said. “So [it’s] a way to get people together, and the Latino community in particular.”

During this year’s event, Los Altos organized informative activities for students and parents and hosted a lunch event with members from community organizations that could provide opportunities and assistance.

The event began with an introduction and a recognition of the former Associate Superintendent Brigitte Sarraf for her 47 years of work for the district and support of the Latino community before moving into scheduled activities and presentations.

After Sarraf’s recognition, parents were offered presentations on the college admissions process and a cautionary presentation about drugs. Meanwhile, students were offered an activity on mindfulness, and administrators asked for their input on how the district can assist Latino students to successfully fulfill their A-G requirements and pass Algebra 2, which are the necessary qualifications to graduate high school. Afterward, the students listened and asked questions to a panel of college students who had graduated from Los Altos.

Sophomore Luis Perez, who attended the Latino Summit, found it to be a helpful resource.

“It seemed pretty useful because they had the student panel of college kids and that’s great to be able to talk to them about college,” Luis said. “The meditation sort of thing was relaxing and helped me realize that slowing down sometimes is okay.”

Throughout the years, the Latino Summit has offered information for students and their families to make the college process more manageable, and it has provided resources for community members on prevalent issues such as immigration and rent. Larin’s involvement with the summit has allowed him to see the positive effects the event has brought Los Altos families.

“I love it when I see families asking questions from the organizations and getting help, whether it’s about rent from the city of Mountain View, whether it’s about getting health services for their kids or asking questions from the lawyers,” Larin said. “Overtime we are starting to see families come more and more to our campus.”